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Day One-Portland to Philly, Philly to Munich-Bad weather delayed our departure in Philly.Word had it that the entire East Coast was delayed due to thunderstorms.After an hour we were airborne and headed to Munich. I sat next to a man who missed his connections to Rome and was rebooked to Rome through Munich with a port call from Rome. He was never going to make it and he was pissed!Took a Benadryl and slept a good 6 hours.Awoke and had breakfast and juice on the plane and arrived in Munich a little after 9, about 30 minutes late. I was a bit worried as Tim and I were supposed to arrive within 20 minutes of each other; I hoped he was not waiting long. I left the plane and was alarmed by 2 German Police officers flanking a man holding a sign that read "JASON ROGERS."I introduced myself as Jason and asked if everything was alight.In clean English, he stated that Frieda Nichols wanted to pass a message on to me regarding Tim. Tim did not make his flight from Boston and had to fly to Zurich and would not be arriving until 1728.The consulate/social worker stated that they would escort me through customs, exchange my money and put me on a train to the central station, a service usually reserved for children. We passed through customs (cutting past the line), exchanged my money (avoiding fees), and got onto the subway headed towards the city.I arrived at the central station and left the metro tunnel. Walked across the street to the central train station and spotted a Starbucks. It was 80 degrees and sunny, but I needed coffee and I needed directions even more than that. After ordering a Venti-Drip with room (verifying someone spoke English), I asked for directions to the Hotel Monaco.They grabbed a map and showed me where it was. I left and after a short time returned confused. The young female Barista took off her apron and escorted me to the street and to the hotel.I checked into the hotel and the owner explained that the room was not ready. I explained that Tim would not be in for awhile, checked my bags in with her and went off to find a world famous Munich beer and see some sites. I first arrived at a large fountain which was packed with people and kids playing in the near noon sun.I then walked down the pedestrian corridor past the many shops and cafes to the town square where the glockenspiel was about to ring. I hung around and watched the show, an amazing amount of song and noise with old characters dancing and twirling far above in the steeple. I then followed the road to a Bier-Garden and had a large pretzel and 2 ½ liters of beer in the park. I sat with 2 German men on lunch, notaries.I shopped and toured the town, climbing a large bell tower. I strolled back to the hotel and figured that I would shower and freshen up a bit before Tim's arrival.After some laundry and a shower, I headed down to meet Tim. As soon as I entered the stairs of the Hotel, I found Tim coming up. Throwing his bags into the room, we took off for the Bier-Garden.We threw back a liter each, talked with a few locals, headed to the Lowenbrau pub for a ½ liter, and then went in search of some dinner.We had an amazing dinner of sausages and bread, drank another liter, stopped at another pub and drank with a 2 Croatians in town for a Laser Convention and then with 3 locals who had just gotten off work.We then took off for the world famous Haufbrau Haus.At forst this looked like a bomb!We circled a few time and then sat with 2 other guys at a big table in the courtyard.It turns out the 2 guys were from the US, California.Soon we were joined by 5 German college girls celebrating a Birthday. Several liters later, after singing, dancing and many tall tales, we all took off for an Irish Pub. An Irish Pub, in Munich?!?!? It was nearing 2 AM and soon found that we were not allowed to enter as our friend "TIM" was not able to stand straight.Stumbling to the Hotel, we went to sleep.
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